perfume

Fragrance Friday Special Edition: Taif Rose
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Fragrance Friday Special Edition: Taif Rose

Wow. I delayed posting because I had asked my globe-trotting husband to bring me a small bottle of real Arabian perfume from his business trip to Dubai. And he did: Taif Roses by the fragrance house Abdul Samad Al Qurash. This is the real deal, friends. It is a traditional Middle Eastern perfume oil that comes in a small, one-ounce bottle which will probably last me the rest of my life as it is so concentrated. I have it on my wrists right now but I just opened the bottle, so I can’t yet describe its progression. Here is the only longish review from Fragrantica.com:

This is a very potent oil to dab on your wrist, inner elbow, behind the ears, at your neck or at your temples. I am not a floral person, generally appreciating orientals and sweeter perfumes or those that are unique in some way. That’s where this one steps up to the bat.
Obviously, you must appreciate the taif rose. It is said that this particular fragrance contains the extract of 12,000 taif roses. In other words, you Must Love Taif Roses.
The first aroma is of course pure rose, a delicious, pure, rose bush. You are nestled amongst a bed of roses, surrounded by the ethereal, heady bouquet. It’s creamy, smooth, perhaps you can even imagine the morning dew in the essences of Taif rose. And then it sweetens slightly, just ever so. The oil stays this way for about an hour. Then the magic begins.
Suddenly, I felt as if I could smell the wet earth the roses were planted in, the leaves that had dropped and mixed in with the rich soil, pieces of branches that had fallen to the ground and begun to decompose. This was such a rich, decadent odor yet very real. Nothing seemed synthetic. As I felt I had my hands in this rich soil and was inhaling the richness of it, suddenly, the Taif rose came back to wrap itself around the entire perfume. And that’s how it continued to stay for hours. A mixture of reality. This is purity, not to be taken lightly.

The writer is exactly right about the first flush of roses. Nothing about this smells artificial or synthetic, it smells as if you are in the world’s largest, most fragrant rose garden with your nose buried in blossoms. The fragrance is very smooth and warm without being spicy. I look forward to smelling it as it develops today! I’m sure that’s how long the two little dabs will last.

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THE ROSY SCENT TRAIL OF MS. PUSEY

Wonderful musings on media, life, perfume and literature, all rolled into one post on Black Narcissus!

ginzaintherain's avatarThe Black Narcissus

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I lost my iPhone in June, and have not looked back. I was walking home at night, late after work, exhausted, and coming up from the Kitakamakura pond to cross the railtracks, it must have fallen out of one of my pockets ( I had just been using it, after leaving the convenience store, so I know I definitely had it), but by the time I was standing in front of the great Engakuji and its soaring pine trees, an exquisite, ancient zen temple and place that even business people on their way home from Tokyo often stand before and pray to, it had gone. Even then I knew, strangely, that I didn’t really care, but I of course naturally went through the motions of looking for it in the undergrowth, backtracking and rootling among the shrubs by the pond just in case: oh well, maybe I’ll find it in the…

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Fragrance Friday: Rosemary
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Fragrance Friday: Rosemary

I grow rosemary. I love the small blue flowers, the grey-green evergreen foliage that resembles needles. But most of all, I love the scent of rosemary. Freshly picked and minced, rosemary adds fragrance and complexity to so many dishes. In ancient Greece, rosemary was thought to improve the mind and memory, a belief later supported by some modern studies of aromatherapy. It later came to signify remembrance: “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember.” Ophelia, in Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5. Rosemary was also carried in a bride’s bouquet or worn in a bridal wreath as a sign of fidelity. All in all, an herb and fragrance with many meanings and nuances. Some lovely quotes about rosemary, and its uses, can be found at the blog The Herb Gardener. Even more detailed information about its varieties and culture is at Auntie Dogma’s Garden Spot.

Coincidentally, a fragrance that currently fascinates me also has rosemary among its notes: Diorissimo. I used to wear it many years ago, in the 1980s. Diorissimo is another scent that seems to send the perfume blogosphere into orbit — not because people hate it but because they mourn its reformulation. I loved it because of its strong lily-of-the-valley fragrance, another favorite scent and plant of mine. (I grew my own to carry in my bridal bouquet and for my husband’s boutonniere). I hadn’t realized Diorissimo also has notes of rosemary until I did a search for rosemary-inflected perfumes on Fragrantica.com. Another surprise? It appears in Hermes’ Un Jardin Sur le Toit, which I am lucky enough to have received as a gift but haven’t tried yet! Can’t wait, as I have loved the other Jardin perfumes. Tomorrow, perhaps?

Rosemary may be having a cultural “moment.” The most recent catalogue from the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a gorgeous rosemary necklace with patinated metal “leaves” dangling from freshwater pearls. The jewelry maker is Michael Michaud, and his company makes a whole line of rosemary jewelry. I plan to enjoy this moment while it lasts! And maybe I’ll even try today’s Diorissimo.

Photo: Auntie Dogma’s Garden Spot.

Fragrance Friday: Cabaret, Cirque du Soleil
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Fragrance Friday: Cabaret, Cirque du Soleil

I love reading other people’s comments on perfumes. Some are full-length reviews by known “perfumistas”, others are anonymous comments on sites like Fragrantica.com.  Many are very clever and evocative. For instance, this comment about the eau de parfum Cabaret, by Gres:

It is a rose chypre, somewhat melancholy in feeling but still alive. Like a ghost…. Cabaret is a great name…it also reminds me of my theatre background. Fresh soft florals, mostly rose at the top, and the base is a very dry clay smell. It is cool and elegant with a transparent, almost dusty smell. I think of the atmosphere backstage at every show I have been involved in. Antique wood counters in the dressing room, waxy makeup and powder strewn across them. Vases and vases of roses and lilies. That musky smell of fresh sweat from dancers just coming off stage.

The image that immediately came to my mind was a Cirque du Soleil show I saw this year, called “Zarkana.” It is described as being set in an abandoned theatre that mysteriously comes back to life for an evening, starting with the appearance of ghostly white figures of performers like ballerinas and acrobats with white-powdered hair and stage make up. At the start, the huge stage is lusciously draped with great swags of crimson velvet. The pale figures emerge from the darkness after the curtain swirls upward. And at the very end of the show, the cinematic backdrop turns into a rippling cascade of deep red roses, while the same ghostly performers and other more colorful characters come out to take their final bows.  Maybe this perfume should be renamed Zarkana. Or at least Cirque.

Finale, Zarkana, Cirque du Soleil.

Photo: Cirque du Soleil.

Fragrance Friday: Mink
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Fragrance Friday: Mink

Recently, I sampled Boucheron eau de toilette. And I did NOT care for it. Too strong for me, too heavy. But I had some on a test strip, which I took home to share with my daughter. I left it on a table in my bedroom. Over the next night and day, it dried down into a more pleasing scent — still not right for me, but strangely familiar. I just could not put my finger on what it evoked.

A day later, I had it! Although Boucheron was launched years after my parents’ social prime, it reminded me of their cocktail parties, when one of my jobs was to greet guests, take their coats and lay them neatly on the big bed in a guest room. Many of the women wore minks. And that is what Boucheron called to mind. Unapologetic wealth. Old school elegance. A statement perfume for women who wear statement jewelry. Not my style, but impeccably designed to a high, specific standard. Just like Boucheron jewels. I’ll pass, but thanks for the memories.

Photo: Philippe Pottier, 1957, from highlowvintage.com

Fragrance Friday: Ginger Lilies
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Fragrance Friday: Ginger Lilies

Late summer and early fall are the season in the South for white ginger lilies, hedychium coronarium. They are tall, tender perennials with long, sword-like green leaves topped by fluttering white flowers whose large petals inspire the plant’s other common name: white butterfly lily. Our next-door neighbor has a magnificent clump, which sends its perfume floating over both of our gardens. I have tried to grow it myself, mere yards from his thriving specimen, without success. The white ginger lily is fickle by nature. But oh, that perfume! Many scents have been called intoxicating; the ginger lily’s fragrance truly is. Designed to lure pollinating insects at night, the white flowers’ scent intensifies in the dark humidity of Southern summer nights.

Imagine my anticipation, then, when I learned that Jo Malone has a cologne named Dark Amber and Ginger Lily. I looked it up on Fragrantica.com and realized that it has notes of ginger, and water lily, but it has nothing to do with ginger lilies. It sounded lovely, though, and I had a sample from a purchase of Tudor Rose, so on my wrists it went. Mmmm. I don’t often like Oriental spicy perfumes, but when I do, I really do. And I really like this one. Warm, soft, a whisper of cardamom with the ginger top note, a floral bouquet for a heart, a touch of glove leather in the base notes. Definitely on my wish list. But nothing to do with actual ginger lilies.

My curiosity piqued, I decided to explore further. And voila! Continue reading →

Fragrance Friday: The Scent of Water
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Fragrance Friday: The Scent of Water

One of my favorite books is “The Scent of Water”, by Elizabeth Goudge. Sometimes I re-read it when I need respite from the tug and pull of my modern American life and job. It is the story of Mary Lindsay, a single, childless woman who leaves her successful career in London to move into a house in an English country village which she has inherited from a distant elderly cousin. She is on something of a spiritual quest, to rediscover her true self, her beliefs and her memories of the man who loved her more than she loved him, who had died in war before they were married.

Elizabeth Goudge had a rare gift of description: her words beautifully evoke the people and settings of her novels so that one can truly see them in the mind’s eye. Her early training was in art, and it shows in her ability to paint pictures with words. The house Mary Lindsay inherited is very old, and its rooms are bathed in rippling greenish light, as if they were underwater, because of the ivy and wisteria vines that grow near the old windows: it has a “dark stone-flagged hall where a silver tankard of lilies of the valley stood on an oak chest. The flowers and the polished silver gathered all light to themselves …”  Goudge uses the metaphor and imagery of water throughout the book, including an ancient well of springwater, hung with ivy and moss, that figures in several characters’ stories in the novel. She is also well aware of the symbolism in Christianity of flowers like the lily of the valley, which stands for purity and humility and is sometimes called Mary’s Tears, referring to the Virgin Mary and the tears she shed at the Crucifixion.

What is the scent of water? One of the other characters is another older woman, also single and childless, Jean. She is a kind but timid and fearful woman, often depressed and overwhelmed by life but struggling bravely to meet its challenges.

“Jean was visited by one of her rare moments of happiness, one of those moments when the goodness of God was so real to her that it was like taste and scent; the rough strong taste of honey in the comb and the scent of water.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Scent of Water

But if one were to seek an actual scent that captured the spirit and atmosphere of this beloved book, what would it be? I nominate Jo Malone’s Lily of the Valley & Ivy, which  wafts from my wrists as I write this. With its notes of ivy (top), lily of the valley and narcissus (heart) and amber and beeswax (base), it is a lovely green floral with a hint of white musk. It is an elegant, quicksilver scent with earthly roots. It reminds me of a small, green and white English garden after a gentle rain. The scent of water.

Photo: http://www.basenotes.net

Fragrance Friday: Biryani, Wine and Perfume
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Fragrance Friday: Biryani, Wine and Perfume

Tonight I am making coconut and curry leaf biryani while I sip a glass of Yellowtail Big Bold Red wine. Both, needless to say, are very fragrant! I adore biryani and am trying to learn to make a good one. Here’s what is in the spice blend: cumin, coriander, Kashmiri chili, turmeric,  black pepper, kibbled curry leaf, black cumin, clove, star anise and cinnamon. Very fragrant!

The Big Bold Red wine is yummy. Australian wine reviewer and blogger Natalie Maclean has this to say:  “This full-bodied red wine offers flavours of fleshy ripe raspberries and strawberries, along with notes of chocolate, mocha and espresso from toasty oak aging.”

So what perfume might go along with my Indian meal and Australian wine? I’ve found one that has notes of both coriander and cumin that sounds very appealing, as it includes my beloved rose note: Miller Harris’ Rose En Noir.  Top notes according to Fragrantica.com: coriander, cumin and lemon leaf. Heart notes: rose, violet leaf, black pepper. Base notes: tobacco, patchouli, ambrette (musk mallow). No fruit.

BUT according to Miller Harris’ own site, these are the notes in Rose En Noir: “Ruby red raspberry fruits, violet leaf and hints of petit grain provide a tantalising introduction, while rich notes of Turkish rose Damascena and black pepper dominate the heart. Rose en Noir seductively draws down into a deeply rich velvet base of ambrette seed, tabac noir, vetiver and patchouli.” Yes, that is raspberry listed first — just like my glass of wine.

So now, as I savor my glass of wine and smell the fragrance of biryani on the air, I have added a new perfume to my wishlist. It doesn’t hurt that it was originally a limited edition exclusive to my favorite department store in the world, Liberty of London.

Rose En Noir Bottle with Petals

Photos: 18 The Mall.

What Went Well
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What Went Well

What went well this week?

  1. The weather broke a little and after a few days of heavy thunderstorms in the afternoon, this morning was clear, cool and beautiful. Because the rain always ends and the sun always comes out afterward.
  2. I discovered a new perfume that I like very much and am enjoying it on my wrists right now. Because I am having fun teaching myself more about fragrance.
  3. Our new colleague-to-be came to a work function last night, although he doesn’t start until Monday, and he fit in perfectly with the faculty and students. Because my other colleagues and I worked really hard to find and hire the right person, and he’s the right guy to add to our little team. We will be so happy to welcome him next week!
Scentbird?
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Scentbird?

One of the tags I follow is “Perfume”. I have always loved perfume and even saved up my money in eighth grade to buy my mother a small flacon of Chanel No. 5, her signature perfume. An early memory of mine is sitting on her bed watching her get ready to go out with my father, as she sat at a real dressing-table whose lid, when lifted, revealed a mirror and a deep compartment filled with mysterious bottles of fragrance, lotion and makeup. I am firmly convinced that scent and fragrance can help transport us to a different (better?) state of mind, as the sense of smell connects to the most primitive, unconscious parts of the human brain, the ones that process emotions and memories. Let’s use that power for good!  Serenity now!

Today, another blog featured a subscription service called “Scentbird.” I loved that name so much, I had to read more just to find out what it was. Turns out it is a service where you pay a monthly fee to receive a decanted sample of a different named fragrance each month. This has clearly been given a lot of thought; subscribers get a special container to hold their samples, which come in small glass vials. Very creative! I had heard of another subscription for beauty supply samples — “Birchbox” — but not for fragrance. Where do they get these great names, by the way?

Anyway, Scentbird also has a blog where contributors comment on various fragrances: Scentbird. And today’s post included a fragrance I just tried myself in a store and liked very much: Hermes Jour d’Hermes. The blog aptly describes it as taking its wearer into a beautiful garden — and you know how much we love gardens here at Serenity Now. It was very appealing, with its white florals, green notes, sweet pea, citrus and water notes. And yes, it made me feel more serene.

Next up for me to try: Hermes Jour d’Hermes Absolu, pictured above with my favorite roses!

jourdhermes-bottle